2 months to go

It's been a month since I did a 2 day track day at Thunderhill in Northern California.

Chris my riding partner for Spa came down from Portland and we each had a day's instruction from ex AMA champion Doug Chandler. I was beginning to think I had bitten off more than I could chew with Spa but the track time, instruction from Doug and very helpful suspension set up from Catalyst Reaction have given me a whole new confidence.

The bike ran great and the changes to the bike worked.

Pictures here: Trackday

A bit louder

It's a bit loud

Final stretch

Almost done. Which it should be considering I have a trackday in a week and a half.

Astralite painted and mounted. Now if I can only figure out why it won't keep air pressure up......

This rat's nest is the wiring harness awaiting final routing and wrapping.

Checking wheel alignment.

Should be room in there for a cup holder

Muffler that doesn't.

Going round the bend

I've been unsuccessfully practicing my Uri Geller skills figuring if I stared at the pipes long enough they would bend into an exhaust system. Unfortunately that hasn't happened and I'll have to use my much stronger phone skills and call Ralph.

Notice the ever present hammer.

I actually have a bike lift but you'd never know......

Battery mounted.

Rear brake caliper

Aftermarket XR 650 rear lights. From Flanders.

Front view with V11 headlight.

Shedding some light on things

Uncle Ralph has kindly fabricated a fairing mount for me. V11 Lemans 8" headlight will provide illumination.

My friend Sean Fader who until recently was the mechanic at Moto Guzzi Classics kindly let me bring the bike down to his shop in Costa Mesa on his day off and helped me make a wiring harness. While he is known for Guzzi work he can handle pretty much any bike made. Sean's a rarity in the bike world: he actually knows what he's talking about. Sean's Info here:

Winter work

Here's the Guzzi in it's current state.

After much scanning of UK ebay I've picked up 2 18" Astralites in the 2.5 width I need to run the front 110 Avon AM22's race tyres. (why settle for 1 when you can buy 2???).

I'll be fabricating (actually I won't because I'm a useless fabricator, I'll be standing over someone's shoulder), a new underslung rear brake. Partly because it looks cool and also because I want to ditch the heavy stock set up. The tab on the swing-arm that attaches the caliper holder gets in the way when I change tires which means I have to remove the rear bevel drive box to remove the wheel: a huge pain.. The new caliper will attach to a plate/spacer and have a brake stay arm attaching to the swing-arm. I can then shave the tab and save precious ounces. See the set up I'm badly describing here.

The caliper you see is from a late model Ducati and the rotor is a Guzzi item. It will get skimmed, drilled and turned to cut down the weight.

Other changes planned are: mount the Magni fairing, install charging system, mount lights, make new foot-pegs, put on the 40mm front end I just picked up and lots of other little stuff. More pictures to follow......